Why Don't We Try?
by Vito Paradiso
Summary: An off-beat comic book author and a serious photographer aren't the ideal couple for a romance.  Human AU, human names used.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: HI. This is my first fanfic in a long time. It's really me trying to get around my Writer's block. I hope this is slightly enjoyable, even in a loose usage of the term.**

Mathias chugged at his beer, slamming the empty bottle down onto the desk. He glared at the blank pages sitting in front of him, almost taunting him with the white of the pages. He sort of wanted to set it on fire. Even if Mr. Beilschmidt would be angry and he's kind of a douche bag when he's angry.

"Auuuughhhh," He groaned, leaning back in his chair, bringing his hands up to his face. "I thought this shit was meant to be fun..." He parted his fingers, looking through the cracks, staring at the paper. "Don't mock me!" He shouted at it, sitting up abruptly, stomping his feet onto the ground.

"This sucks. Big time," Mathias muttered, glaring daggers at the abandoned pencil on the desk. "Fuck you."

Mathias heard the phone ring and he stared across the room at it. It was probably Mr. Beilschmidt, calling to yell at him for _something_. He sighed and sauntered towards the phone, picking it up, holding it a few centimeters from his ear.

"Mathias," He greeted, already flinching because jeez, Mr. Beilschmidt could yell loud.

"Ah, hello," A very _different _from Mr. Beilschmidt's deep voice came through the phone. This voice was softer, with a weird floaty quality. Mathias looked at the phone with confusion, placing it against his ear. It wasn't a bad different, actually, the voice on the other end was a thousand times better than Mr. Beilschmidt's.

"Eh? Ja? Who are you?" He asked.

"Lukas Olsen," The other voice replied. Mathias blinked, a confused look growing over his face. Who the hell was Lukas Olsen? Mathias looked toward the phone in confusion. And why the fuck was he calling him?

"Uh, sorry but I don't kn-"

"I'm the photographer who has to take your picture for your book," The other guy, Lukas, cut him off. Oh. Right. He had to get that done...

"Uh, when was that again?" Mathias asked, and he heard a sigh from the other end of the phone.

"Today at 2:30pm," the other voice sounded cold and _very _annoyed. He sounded Norwegian. Really, really Norwegian. Mathias looked at the clock. It was 3pm. Oh.

Mathias laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, you see, I was working on my book! That's why I was la-"

"Are you going to be showing up to the studio today or are we going to have to re-schedule for another day? Troublesome idiot." Mathias felt a pang of offense. Obviously this guy had no manners, calling him up and then calling him an idiot. "Hey, I'm not an idio-!"

"I'm expecting you today at 5pm now. If you don't show up, your publisher is going to be angry and bother me. The address is 39 Wildersgade." Lukas hung up, the sound of the phone clicking rang in Mathias' ear.

Mathias groaned, throwing the phone onto the couch in the corner of the room. Fuck, now he had to somehow make himself look suitable for the public... Which he did not want to do. What he wanted to do was get over with the storyboard and to drink beer and sleep. But, no, this Lukas fellow has to call and interrupt all his plans. Mathias looked at the storyboard's pages, as blank as they had ever been, and felt a bit sheepish. It wasn't like he was getting anywhere with the story anyway.

Mathias wandered into the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. His hair was a mess. Not that it wasn't always, but now it was a mess that didn't look, well, nice. A beard was starting to form on his face, making him look relatively homeless. Not to mention his outfit. Mathias frowned and looked down at himself. He was wearing sweat pants, which he hadn't changed in a few days, and a baggy oversized wife beater. Mathias pondered for a moment how upset the Olsen guy would be if he just went as he was. Probably furious. Mathias grinned to himself. It seemed like a funny idea. But then he would have to deal with Mr. Beilschmidt...

X

"You're Mathias Oxenstierna?" A blonde, with a pretty face, that was being contorted into a small frown, Mathias had to add, asked him. Maybe Mathias could ask him for his number when they were done with their appointment. He hadn't been on a date with someone since Abel, which, had turned out badly... Well. If Lukas was gay. Mathias frowned, biting the inside of his cheek. He really hoped this guy was gay. Or... curious?

He looked at Mathias with a vague look of disbelief. "Award winning comic book author?"

Mathias blinked at him, confused. Obviously it was him! Why would he be there if he wasn't? "Uh, ja! You're Lukas Olsen, right? The photographer guy?" Lukas gave a nod.

"You look awfully stupid for an author," Lukas commented, picking up the camera from the front desk next to him. Mathias' jaw fell slack, the smile loosened at the edges. This guy seemed like a royal prick, more so than his little brother.

"Uh, well, I am an author so!" Mathias decided to just grin and brush off the comment. Lukas looked up from his camera, looking at Mathias' face intently. Mathias could feel his face heat up from the stare of the shorter man. Lukas' head tilted slightly and Mathias almost copied the movement.

Lukas looked away, going back to looking down at his camera, fiddling with the buttons on the top. Mathias gave a bit of a laugh. This guy was a jerk. A cute jerk. But still. A jerk.

"So, uh, what about that photo thing?" Mathias asked and Lukas gave a small nod. Lukas looked up again, holding the camera in both hands near his chest.

"The studio is this way," Lukas said, walking to the left of the building. Mathias followed, looking around at the framed photos of gorgeous looking people. He couldn't help but smile at the images, for some reason, the talent in the photos were awing to him. He looked at the shorter man, noticing a curly fly away hair. Mathias' grin grew wider as he watched him, his eyes flickering down to get a nice take of his ass. Even if this guy was a jerk, he was able to look damn good while doing it. The photographer himself was dainty, almost pretty enough that if Mathias didn't know his name was Lukas he'd automatically assume he was a girl.

Lukas opened a wide door, leading Mathias into a room with a long stretch of black fabric which seemed to climb up the wall. A simple bench was perched against the wall. Lukas guided Mathias to the bench, looking at him with an odd look. Mathias tilted his head slightly.

"Everything all right?" He asked. Lukas simply nodded before looking over at a woman with curly blonde hair. "I think we're going to need a wardrobe change." Lukas told the woman who gave him a curt nod, walking towards Mathias, the sound of her high heels clicking on the floor.

"Eh? Why?" Mathias almost pouted. He thought he looked pretty damn good for throwing on this outfit five minutes before he was meant to arrive. A suit, but not too fancy of a suit. That was nice, right?

Lukas gave him that weird look again. "I think that a more casual look would be better for you... You're a comic book author, not an New York Times best seller." Mathias pouted slightly, looking down at his suit, brushing the lapels. So what if he wasn't a big, showy author? He made really awesome comic books! That people loved! That's all that mattered, right?

The woman smiled at him and Mathias grinned back at her. She seemed nice, actually! "Did you bring any extra clothes, sir?" She asked sweetly.

"Uhh, no. I didn't know I would need any," Mathias awkwardly chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. He heard Lukas sigh and he furrowed his eyebrows, looking towards him.

"What?" Lukas gave him a sharp glare, "Alice, maybe just have him take the jacket off." Mathias wanted to flinch at the obviously annoyed tone in his voice as the woman, Alice, nodded.

"Can I have your jacket, sir?" She asked, holding her hands out to him. Mathias nodded, slipping the jacket off his shoulders and handing it to her. She took it and walked off the black fabric, setting the jacket onto a coat hanger near the door.

"Jeez, do I look okay now, Lukas?" Mathias pouted at Lukas, who looked back at him. His eyes flickered over him and Mathias once again felt his face heating up due to the intensity of his stare.

"I guess you aren't going to get any better."

Mathias grinned. Ha! He was ready to get these stupid photos over with.

"Sit," Lukas demanded at Mathias wanted to remain standing but he moved to sit on top of the bench. Alice smiled and Mathias smiled back at her. "Thank you, Alice," Lukas said, nodding his head at her. So the guy could be nice. Alice walked off the black carpet, opening the door that they entered and shut it after her.

Crap, Mathias thought, now he was alone with Mr. Hot N' Cold. Come baaack, cute Alice girl, come back!

"Mathias. Can you stop making that face? I need you to actually look presentable. Photoshop can only do so much," He heard Lukas' voice cut through his thoughts and he looked at him, a pout still on his face.

"Uh, yeah!" He chirped out, grinning at him.

Lukas moved to hold the camera up, looking through it with one eye. Mathias let him snap a photo of him, feeling a bit awkward. He didn't mind photos, but Lukas wasn't that comforting of a guy. Lukas pulled the camera away from his face, finger still resting on the shutter release.

"Could you relax a bit? Maybe loosen up your tie," Lukas murmured, moving a little closer to him. Mathias did as Lukas instructed, looking at the camera. "Just smile, but look natural." Mathias nodded and grinned. Lukas seemed to be loosening up a bit, maybe it was because he was behind a camera, which, obviously, he was good at.

Lukas snapped another picture of him, moving to change the angle. "Don't grin so much. Just a smile would work," Lukas murmured again and Mathias smiled. Lukas took another photo. "I think a couple more photos and we'll be set."

Mathias looked at Lukas' face, noticing that the small frown that seemed to be his default facial expression loosened up. He looked a lot better when he was relaxed, which was astounding. He was already gorgeous with that frown on his face.

"Spread your legs and lean forward." Mathias blinked, being drawn out of his thoughts by _that_. _What_? Those sounded like instructions for a porn, not a head-shot photo shoot... Lukas watched him, expectantly and impatiently.

"Eh?" He asked, and Lukas brought his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose out of annoyance.

"Spread your feet out," Lukas instructed, giving Mathias that glare he was growing used to seeing today, "Then lean forward," Mathias followed the instructions, resting his elbows on his thighs, still confused.

"Uh, like that?" Mathias asked, looking up at him. The photographer nodded, the camera going back up to his face. Mathias smiled again towards the camera. Lukas' finger flipped over the shutter release and he snapped another picture of him. He put the camera down again.

"I think that has to be the last one," Lukas said, glancing towards the clock. "I have another appointment in a few minutes. Of course, if you were on time, you'd be able to choose from more pictures." Mathias grinned.

"You're just lucky I even came here at all! I mean, the comic's been kicking my ass for a while now..."

Lukas quirked an eyebrow, blatantly ignoring him as he turned from him, walking off the black carpet. Mathias frowned, standing up and laughing, out of self conscious nerves. Just because this guy was good looking didn't mean that he had to get nervous. Mathias Oxenstierna simply did not get nervous! Maybe it was because _Valhalla _kept him kept up in his house so often, he'd forgotten what it was like to actually see someone that was an angry German.

"Uh, hey! Lukas, I was wondering-"

"No."

"But you don't even know that I'm going to ask!" Mathias pouted. Lukas turned on his heel, staring up at the taller blonde.

"Whatever it is, no. Now, the photos will be ready for your choosing in a week. Alice has your coat in the front room," Lukas spoke, turning his back on Mathias again. Mathias grimaced, a large frown set on his face as he followed Lukas out of the room.

"Well, uh, thanks for the pictures!" Mathias chirped out, smiling widely at Lukas. Lukas looked at him, setting the camera down onto the front desk.

"Ja," He replied simply and Mathias grinned, chuckling.

"You're such a shy guy! You have no reason to be shy towards me!" He grinned, giving him an enthusiastic thumbs up. Lukas' eyes narrowed, a look of pure annoyance on his face.

"I'm not... shy. I simply don't like you." Mathias could have sworn there was daggers coming out of this guy's mouth because, _ouch_, that hurt!

"You hardly know me!" Mathias whined, an over dramatic pout forming on his bottom lip. "You can't say you don't like someone you've just met!"

"Just did."

"Well, you shouldn't!"

Lukas' glare never left his face and he stared at Mathias' face for a few seconds before looking down at the camera. Mathias blinked in confusion as he looked away, down at the camera. Did he insult him? Mathias opened his mouth to apologize but the others softer voice sounded first.

"Right. I'm sorry. Come back in a week, 8am."


	2. Chapter 2

_8Am is too early to function_, Mathias groaned, sitting on the over crowded bus. The person next to him was snoring loudly and if didn't stop within the next five minutes, Mathias was contemplating kicking him (Most likely in the face). Lukas should have chosen a better time. Like, noon or something.

Mathias tugged his scarf tighter around his neck, leaning his head against the glass of the bus. Fuck buses. Fuck being awake. Fuck cute little photographers with attitude problems that make him wake up _before the noon. _

The bus slowed to a stop and the doors opened with a hiss as Mathias stood up, tripping over the sleeping seat partner's feet. Mathias swore under his breathe. Fucking- _argh_. He walked through the bus, stepping off into the wonderfully dreary weather of Copenhagen. And he didn't have an umbrella. Of course.

Mathias walked down the sidewalks, his hands stuffed into his pants pockets. The studio was two blocks down the road, the building itself was brightly lit with lamps that Mathias _knew _came from Ikea. He opened the door, a soft ding of a bell echoing through the building.

A messy head of blonde hair perked up from the desk, and Mathias fought back a grin. It as Lukas, looking as tired as Mathias probably did.

"Mm, hei," Lukas muttered, standing up and sliding hair behind his ear as he walked over to Mathias. "Alice will be bringing out the prints in a few minutes," Lukas said with a small nod.

Mathias grinned and gave him a thumbs up. "All right, awesome!" He chirped out and Lukas gave him a sharp glare. Well, Lukas wasn't a morning person either.

"Sorry about the mess," Lukas muttered as he walked back over to his desk, grabbing a few papers and shoving them into the drawer of his desk.

"Late night?" Mathias asked, shaking his head, rain droplets falling onto his face. Lukas nodded, reaching for a white mug, full of piping coffee.

"You look hundreds of times cuter than me after late nights!" Mathias said, grinning while Lukas' face contorted into the frown that he always wore on his face. But Mathias could have sworn he saw him blushing!

Mathias walked over to the desk, and sat on the edge, much to Lukas' annoyance. "I can tell," Lukas said coldly as he looked at him with a look that Mathias couldn't describe. Mathias pouted a bit at Lukas, who rolled his eyes. "Don't look at me like that."

Mathias opened to say something, but the clicking of heels across the floor distracted him. It must have been the Alice girl.

"Oh, uh-!" Alice said, her feet coming to stop. "I'm sorry if I interrupted anything!" She said, holding onto the photographs in her hand. Mathias grinned at her.

"Oh. You didn't, Alice," Lukas said, coming from behind the desk towards her. "I personally like this one," Lukas said, pointing to an image in her hands. Alice nodded, smiling towards Mathias. Mathias moved off the desk, taking a look at the pictures in her hands. He looked much more... classier than he ever did. Most pictures of him involve red plastic cups full of questionable drinks and him looking hammered out of his mind. Usually, those were the only ones that Gilbert ever tagged him on facebook...

The picture Lukas was pointing at was the one where he was leaning over. Mathias supposed he looked nice in it... He was a lot better looking than _other_ people who wrote comic books. Most looked like they'd never gotten laid before. Or moved out of their mom's basements.

"Sure, that one works!" He grinned, and Alice nodded, bringing that image to the front of the pictures.

"All right! We'll send it to your publisher right away!" She smiled, and went back through the door, that Mathias didn't even know where that door led.

He turned towards Lukas, who looked at him with one eyebrow quirked up. Lukas seemed to be more awake now, his eyes somewhat brighter and his face was more full of color. Mathias smiled at Lukas as he rolled his eyes, again at him, as he walked back towards the desk. "You need to stop staring at me. It's creepy," Lukas said, grabbing his cup of coffee again.

"I can't help it!" Mathias said, a light blush going across his cheeks. He was caught staring at him and he really didn't have a reason other than Lukas was cute, in a totally jerky sort of way. But he really did have a nice face... And for some reason, that Mathias couldn't put his finger on, he felt comfortable around the guy. He usually wasn't comfortable around people who, when they first met, called him an idiot. But this guy was different.

Mathias heard Lukas sigh and he snapped out of his thoughts, looking towards him. "What is it you want? You could have left right after you chose the picture. Are you just loitering around so you can stare at me?" Lukas said, sounding exasperated with Mathias' very existence.

Mathias mentally kicked himself in the ass. Usually he was better at being, well, smooth! Now he's just creepily staring at guys now? Way to suck, Mathias, way to suck.

"Well! Actually, I was wondering if I could get your number!" Mathias said, quickly and with a grin. Lukas paused, sighing for what seemed like the hundredth time today (And it was only 8:30am.)

"If I give you my number, will you leave me alone?" And Mathias nodded quickly, grinning like a little kid in a candy store. Lukas grabbed a pen from his desk, grabbing Mathias' hand quickly, turning it over so his palm was facing him. He scribbled down the digits of his phone, shoving Mathias' hand away.

"If you do text me, or call me, only do it on the weekends between 9am and 10pm. Otherwise I'll just ignore you," Lukas told him, putting the pen behind his ear. Mathias nodded, enthusiastically.

"Sure thing! Haha, this is awesome!" He chirped out and Lukas shook his head. Inside of Mathias' head, a little celebration was going on. He just got a number. That's like, first base! Well, if a home-run was adding someone on Facebook. But let's just ignore that for now.

Mathias felt like hugging Lukas as tight as he could but Lukas seemed like the kind of guy, that if he did hug him, he'd get a face full of fist.

"Well, uh, I'll call you! Tonight!"

x

Mathias didn't get nervous. Ever. He was king of the world, well, in his head. He could call up anyone he wanted and smooth talk them. But this guy. Argh, he was so much different than anyone else he had to deal with. In all honesty, he was like a twenty times cuter version of his little brother. Well, actually, Berwald was even more of a socially awkward weirdo than Lukas.

Mathias tapped the end of his pencil against his sketch book, the pages filled with drawings of the characters that ran around in his head fighting off mythical beings. For some reason, the ideas were able to come to him, like the boulder that was his artist's block imploded on itself. But, hey, he wasn't complaining.

He looked towards the phone sitting neatly on his desk. He told Lukas that he would call him tonight. But he was finally getting work done on his comic, which had to be published in like a month.

"..." Mathias stared at the phone, before dropping the pencil and dialing in the numbers.

The phone rang once. Then twice. It picked up on the third ring, a tired sounding voice answering.

"Hei, Lukas Olsen snakker," the voice, Lukas, said. He sounded tired, like he had just woken up from a nap. Mathias' face brightened and he smiled. Not to mention he was speaking in Norwegian. Which was kinda cute.

"Hey, it's Mathias!" Mathias chirped out before he heard a sigh on the other line before a click. Then the other end went quiet. Mathias froze, with an expectation smile on his face before he looked at the phone, with downright confusion.

Did he just hang up on him?

… Oh.

He did.

–

**A/N: HI, once again. Thank you for all the favorites and alerts! They mean a lot to me. 3 This story will be slow paced, but that's how love is, y'know? Sorry for a short chapter! I wanted to update before I forgot about this.**


	3. Chapter 3

Mathias doodled on his hand, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for the bus. The bus was late and he was _bored._ He would have normally rode his bike to the publisher but the stupid chain decided to be an ass and break. Sighing, he finished the doodle off with adding a small frown on the character's face.

He glanced around at the others waiting, mostly old ladies and college students. Mathias sighed, lifting his hand back up and starting another doodle. He focused on the drawing, even if it was just ink on his skin instead of actually working on the comic that he should be working on right now...

Finally, he heard the hissing of the bus as it arrived. People scurried onto the bus- sitting as far away from a stranger as they could, displaying obvious Danish friendliness. Mathias walked to the back of the bus, looking around- There were open seats but, argh, they were next to someone. Who looked to be asleep, leaning against the window. Sighing, he sat down next to the person, trying his hardest not to touch them- Or even their coat. The bus started driving again- It was almost silent except for the noise of the bus's motor roaring.

He went back to doodling on his hand, this time someone who looked awfully familiar to him. A shuffling of clothes next to him pulled him out of his thoughts and he looked at the stranger. Maybe he was going to wake up? The stranger moved again, this time to a full sitting up position.

"Mornin', bud," Mathias said, grinning towards the stranger. He swore the stranger almost jumped a foot in the air, just by judging the way the stranger recoiled against the window again. Great, did he sit next to a crazy person? Just what he needed... "Uh, ya' all right?" Mathias asked, leaning backwards from the stranger, a curious look on his face. Even if he was crazy, might as well have some common decency.

"...," The stranger pulled down the scarf around his mouth, and turned to face him- _Oh, holy shit- _

Mathias gave a laugh, almost in disbelief. "What are ya' doin' 'ere, Lukas!" The rest of the people on the bus turned to shush him for shouting but Mathias ignored them.

Lukas groaned- Just who he _didn't _want to see this early in the morning, especially when he was just waking up from napping. "Ja, hei," He said, turning to stare out the window at the passing buildings. He heard Mathias laugh again.

"So weird t' run into ya' 'ere! What are ya' doin', sleepin' on a bus? Don' ya' got a bed?" Mathias asked, leaning forward towards Lukas, bringing his hand up to lean his chin against. Lukas shot him a glare, not even bothering to answer his question.

"Not gonna talk? Well, I bet yer tired since ya' just woke up..." Mathias said with a pout. He was still confused why Lukas hung up on him the other day but it wasn't like he was going to press it. "Ya' looked pretty uncomfortable! But, ahh, 't's so cool tha' I ran into ya'!" Mathias couldn't help but grin happily as he talked to him.

Lukas, on the other hand, tried his hardest to ignore the annoying Dane who was currently trying to talk his ear off. Of course, his iPod had to be at his studio, damn it. He was very tempted to push Mathias off his chair. And under the very bus they were riding...

"Mr. Oxenstierna," Lukas said, probably the most desperate he'd ever sound, "It's hardly even nine am. Keep you're voice down, idiot." His voice was cold, Mathias noticed. Maybe he didn't get a lot of hugs when he was a kid.

"Oh, right!" Mathias chirped out, "'ll be real quiet," This time he whispered, grinning proudly at Lukas. Lukas almost facepalmed, wanting so badly to leave right now. "Where ya' going anyway?"

_Shut up, _Lukas wanted to just hit Mathias upside the head right now. Such an annoying person... "No where that you need to know," Lukas bit out, looking back out the window, trying to hint to Mathias to just stop talking.

"Oh, really? 'm goin' t' see my publisher and see the finally copy of m' comic," Mathias almost boasted and Lukas could definitely tell he had an ego. That just added to how annoying he found him. "I really hope 't looks awesome... An' thanks, 'gain for th' pictures! Yer really good at tha'..."

Lukas' eyebrows furrowed at that, hunching his shoulders. Why wouldn't this idiot just go away? How long was this bus ride? Did God just really hate him or something? What had he done? Had he accidentally made the Gods angry-.

"Ya' know, I tried callin' ya, and ya' hung up." Mathias said with a pout. Okay- Maybe he was going to mention it. Lukas turned his head to look at him, and he didn't seem the least bit sorry.

"Yes, I did hang up. Why would I have wanted to talk to you?" Lukas retorted and Mathias pouted more.

"Ya' don' got a lot of friends, do ya'?"

Lukas' eyes darkened at that comment and he stood up, even while the bus was moving and slipped back Mathias- Such a tiny person, Mathias added. "Wha- Hey! No! Don' go-!" Mathias almost yelled after him as Lukas moved to stand in the aisle towards the front of the bus. Mathias followed after him, grabbing onto the handle dangling from the ceiling.

"I didn' mean tha'- I was jus' sayin' that ya' seem kinda shy or whatever, not tha' people don' like ya'," And Mathias continued to ramble on but Lukas wasn't listening.

The bus finally slowed to a stop and Lukas shifted his coat more onto his shoulders and pulled his scarf up to his nose before walking off the bus. Mathias just watched him go, feeling the stupid of what he just said.

_Damn it._


End file.
